Hear Our Public Employees

a coalition to secure full rights for workers in North Carolina’s state and local governments

Statement of Principle

North Carolina’s public employees, both state and local, should have the right to bargain collectively for enforceable agreements that govern the terms and conditions of their employment, a right already enjoyed by most private sector workers in the state. We have formed this coalition to help gain this fundamental right for all North Carolina public employees. One of the major goals of the coalition is to obtain repeal of North Carolina General Statute 95-98, which currently prohibits such agreements.

Public sector workers who obtain the right to collective bargaining would realize substantial gains — specifically a mechanism to insure fairness on the job.

We invite all North Carolinians who agree with this principle to join in making it a reality.

Statement of Structure for the Coalition

The core group consists of organizations currently representing employees of state and local agencies in North Carolina or plausibly intending to represent such employees. This core group includes: American Federation of Teachers/North Carolina (AFT), International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 391, North Carolina Coalition of Police, North Carolina Public Service Workers Union--UE Local 150, North Carolina State AFL-CIO, State Employees Association of North Carolina (SEANC), and Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics of North Carolina (PFFPNC). Organizations can be added to the core group by unanimous agreement of the existing core organizations.

The support group consists of other organizations and individuals in agreement with the principles of the coalition and acceptable to the core group. We hope the support group will grow to include labor advocacy organizations, religious bodies, human and civil rights organizations, and other organizations dedicated to the purposes of the coalition.

All initiatives and policy positions of the coalition must have the unanimous approval of the core group. Members of the coalition will not speak in the name of the coalition unless designated as a spokesperson for the coalition. The coalition encourages its members to take actions and positions of their own, independent of the coalition, so long as those actions and positions do not violate the unanimously agreed principles and policies of the coalition.

Endorsement as a supporting organization

__________________________________________________________ agrees to the above statements

(name of endorsing organization)

of principle and structure for the Hear Our Public Employees coalition and wishes to join the coalition as a member organization in the support group.

Signature _________________________________________________ Date ______________________

Printed name of signer _____________________________________ Title ________________________

Contact person (if different from signer) ___________________________________________________

Address _____________________________________________________________________________

City _________________________________________ State _______ Zip _______________________

Phone ___________________________ Email ______________________________________________

Organization’s web site _________________________________________________________________

Mail completed endorsement to: Hear Our Public Employees, P.O. Box 12133, Raleigh, NC 27605-5133.

2002/11/17